English language teaching in Indonesia

Paper Code: YUW05050
English Language Teaching in Decentralised Indonesia: Voices from
the Less Privileged SchoolsPaper presented at AARE 2005 International Education Research Conference
By:
Grace Yuwono
The University of Sydney
1. Introduction
With the release of Regional Autonomy laws in 1999, Indonesia, which had
been a centralised country for decades, started its decentralisation reform. The laws
give broader autonomy to local governments and schools to manage their educational
service provisions, including in the area of English language education. English is
taught as a foreign language in Indonesia and is a compulsory subject in secondary
schools. However, the teaching of English in many areas and schools, particularly in
isolated areas and resource-poor schools, is still far from perfect. Therefore, linking
decentralisation policy at the school level (or as commonly known as the school-based
management) and the schools’ English language programs, as well as examining the
impacts of the policy on the not-too-privileged English classrooms, will be an
important research area to explore.

the history of English Language Teaching

The changing winds and shifting sands of the history of English Language Teaching

Dimitrios Thanasoulas

Introduction

As the title implies, the English language teaching tradition has been subjected to a tremendous change, especially throughout the twentieth century. Perhaps more than any other discipline, this tradition has been practiced, in various adaptations, in language classrooms all around the world for centuries. While the teaching of Maths or Physics, that is, the methodology of teaching Maths or Physics, has, to a greater or lesser extent, remained the same, this is hardly the case with English or language teaching in general. As will become evident in this short paper, there are some milestones in the development of this tradition, which we will briefly touch upon, in an attempt to reveal the importance of research in the selection and implementation of the optimal methods and techniques for language teaching and learning.